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Things that bring me joy.... (Read 114192 times)

Aldous...Just when I think you can't delight me anymore...I frikken adore you. (not to sound woo woo yogi goo like). When I read 'know what I mean jellybean?', you blew me away and the biggest smile on my face! Love that expression. And, indeed I do know what you mean.

This morning was really crappy. Just...well, started with a funk and nothing working. (bs issues with siriusxm). I was telling Onan that in the short time being a member here, I'm so grateful for this forum and all our unique voices.

Being in the great outdoors with my wife and four children. I love the sound of crickets chirping, owls hooting, the crackling of a campfire, the running water in a brook or stream. I love sleeping under the stars on a cool autumn night with my family. I love wade fishing in the bays adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. I love a cold beer and a nice cigar playing poker with my buddies.

Once right after a really bad blizzard in NYC, I was one of a few people out walking the streets – I think I was walking to St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was difficult walking because there was so much snow and ice everywhere. A little bit up the street making her way toward me was an elderly black woman all decked out in a very expensive-looking coat, hat, big sunglasses, etc. She started to slide around and stumble, so I picked up the pace and got to her right in time to catch her and help her. But then we both lost our balance and ended up standing there clutching each other and laughing for a minute or so, trying not to fall. I remember thinking, "This is how it should be and this is a really cool moment – two (very different) strangers holding on to each other, trying to help each other and laughing together." It was a really great human connection at an odd, unexpected moment and I still think about that memory when I need a smile. It brings me joy.

I need to make a list like this every day (not here, haha!). It really helped lift my blah mood.

My niecesBig awesome thunderstormsThat first cup of coffee in the morningFinding a book that's so good I never want to put it downThe show "COPS" Stouffer's Fettuccine Alfredo WafflesThe oceanFinding something cool in a musty antiques storeFlannel pajamas and big fuzzy socksWalking the dog in the evenings when it's just turning fall and people are starting to burn fires in their fireplacesOctober and all things HalloweenOccasionally landing a $1K freelance writing gig will also make me dance with joy and reliefLaughing with strangersAnd I know this sounds weird, but waking up from a hellish nightmare to find my two cats curled up on the bed next to me and the comforting sound of a familiar voice on the radio

Love these, Seraphim. Was this the NYC blizzard of 96? Living in the West Village and it was serene and lovely. Quiet and a calm. Except for my attempting to tackle giant mounds of snow. But it was fun.

This morning:

My husband and I had errands to run. All kinds of silly mishaps and all we could do was giggle. He is truly my best friend after almost 20 yrs of marriage. We still have such delight and joy in simple things. Cracking each other up, etc.

He listens to Art at work and he has the silliest commentaries when he gets home. 'Omg! #9! Art is so excited about #9! ' Last night he asked 'Are your forum people making silly jokes because your witch isn't on?' Ha. MY witch? ...then he asked 'Do they think George is behind it?' Ahaha.

I'm so frikken lucky. Few people make me bust out in laughter and he always does.

Love these, Seraphim. Was this the NYC blizzard of 96? Living in the West Village and it was serene and lovely. Quiet and a calm. Except for my attempting to tackle giant mounds of snow. But it was fun.

My son was 5 at the time. We have these great photos of the snow piled up in the driveway way taller than he was, and he remembers it being like snow walls.

Playing Grand Theft Auto V Online with my grown son who lives out of state

Seeing the first snow of the year (just the first, after that I've had enough)

The rare day when I don't HAVE to do anything

Live Grateful Dead recordings

Trying to learn not to worry so much and letting things go

My kind of Cat. I am going to add you to my buddies. I dont know if you would be interested or not but I have a DVD of the David Grisman Birthday bash that I went to back in 96. 1st set David Grisman Quintet and the second set was The Old and In The Way reunion minus Jerry of Course. Its a must see for most heads

My kind of Cat. I am going to add you to my buddies. I dont know if you would be interested or not but I have a DVD of the David Grisman Birthday bash that I went to back in 96. 1st set David Grisman Quintet and the second set was The Old and In The Way reunion minus Jerry of Course. Its a must see for most heads

Once right after a really bad blizzard in NYC, I was one of a few people out walking the streets – I think I was walking to St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was difficult walking because there was so much snow and ice everywhere. A little bit up the street making her way toward me was an elderly black woman all decked out in a very expensive-looking coat, hat, big sunglasses, etc. She started to slide around and stumble, so I picked up the pace and got to her right in time to catch her and help her. But then we both lost our balance and ended up standing there clutching each other and laughing for a minute or so, trying not to fall. I remember thinking, "This is how it should be and this is a really cool moment – two (very different) strangers holding on to each other, trying to help each other and laughing together." It was a really great human connection at an odd, unexpected moment and I still think about that memory when I need a smile. It brings me joy.

I love that story, Seraphim! I know it's a bit schmaltzy, but here's a bit from Thornton Wilder's Our Town:

Emily: I can't. I can't go on. We don't have time to look at one another. I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed... Good-by, Good-by, world. Good-by, Grover's Corners... Mama and Papa. Good-by to clocks ticking... and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths... and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? -- every, every minute?

Stage Manager: No. (Pause.) The saints and poets, maybe -- they do some.

Along another line (Cynnie), another great Italian movie is Cinema Paradiso.

Spending time with my wife and two kids Gunning my crotch rocket from 0-100 as fast as I can to get on the freewayA good song that I haven't heard in a whileSuper Jackpots and getting Scared Stiff or Destroying the Ring (for those of you who know what I'm talking about)DrawingPlaying a round of golf by myself at sunset on a nice dayLaying in the grass looking at the cloudsThe sounds of wind, lightning, thunder and the power going outScoring a critical goal in a hockey game, and even though its almost always a miss, the sound of a puck hitting the postSeeing animals in the wildDriving my motorhome towards a campground (and the most annoying thing is probably driving it back! )I know this is shallow, but when I make a big sale and get lots of money all at once, that is pretty joyous.

Communicating/bantering in private messages to a hyper intelligent bellgab member about: The Dung Beatles (aka The Silver Scarabs), how a ball of excrement can be a symbol for the Midnight Sun, the supernatural process of soul transmigration in the state of Arkansas "It's A (super)Natural™", the death penalty, dusty Thelemic doctrine, Ed Sullivan, AC versus DC and George Westinghouse's role in the Edison standoff (and by inference, Tesla's involvement), Science Fiction Author(s) heh, Joseph Campbell and the hero myth, musical chairs, Bill Clinton, Reddy Kilowatt, outhouses, the Ozark mountains and its people, exploitation of exploitation in general, white 1959 convertible Cadillacs, Otto Skorzeny as whirling dervish of the Third Reich, the Pine Bluff Gazette, school teachers, Catholicism, Jackie Mason, pan flutes, Whitey Bulger's descendants and the effects on society, RFK's assassination and tangential records, the nektonic subject of a porpoise's navigation efficiency, that fatal beautiful Summer of 1975, and Oh, humor. Loads of humor.

All of this (and more) in but eight emails totaling right around 680 words.

Slightly more efficient than the Art Bell Quits Dark Matter thread as far as a meaningful exchange of ideas per word count.